


Snow Falls like Ashes

by halo_in_reverse



Category: James Bond (Craig movies), James Bond (Movies)
Genre: F/M, No Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-26
Updated: 2012-12-26
Packaged: 2017-11-22 11:39:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/609430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halo_in_reverse/pseuds/halo_in_reverse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bond needs a smoke break.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snow Falls like Ashes

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to closer2fine for the encouragement. You've been a consistently good bad influence for a long time and I'm glad you're still part of my life.

The wind whipped the tails of his long cashmere coat against his legs and he could slowly feel his blood pressure creep down in to a range bordering on healthy. He had been shot, blown up, nearly drowned and had looked the most dangerous people on the planet in the eye with a smile all while his heart rate hadn’t strayed above that of a leisurely jog but a meeting with MI6’s accounting department could make him positively vibrate with rage.

His job was to complete his assignments quickly and efficiently with preferably as little human collateral damage as possible. If he had known that mission debriefings would now include a two hour bollocking about keeping receipts, fiscal responsibility and perhaps maybe just jumping in to a Ford Fiesta rather than an Audi R8 when a car chase was required he might have put up a bit more resistance when he was being recruited.

At the first opportunity for a break, he slipped out of the dull beige office and made his way to the roof. The sign announced “AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY”, but since they didn’t bother to alarm the door, it did nothing to slow him down as he barreled through. The deep grey winter sky that had been threatening something all day finally opened up but rather than the usual pissing London rain, snow swirled quietly around him. 

He took a long, slow drag off a cigarette that he really shouldn’t be having. Earlier that day he found a long forgotten pack in an interior pocket of his coat and he decided that a stale Dunhill was a better life choice than going back downstairs and choking out England’s finest accountants.

“Having a pout, are we?”

Fucking M. Sometimes a grown man just wanted to sulk and smoke in peace. Her shoes crunched softly on the snow covered gravel as she came to stand next to him at the edge of the roof. They wordlessly watched the flakes dance in glow of the street lights below for a minute, the silence broken only by the rushing of the wind and the occasional sizzle of ashes. Finally, she nudged him.

“Are you going to be a gentleman and offer me a cigarette?”

His head snapped around and he looked down at her. “You don’t smoke, M.”

She gifted him a rare smile. “Dear boy, there are many things that I don’t do.”

If he were still capable of blushing, he knows that his ears would have turned bright red. With his own cigarette dangling from his mouth, he reached in to his jacket and retrieved the semi-crushed packet while pulling a cheap, disposable lighter that he snagged from the corner of a desk out of his pants pocket. Drawing one out, she placed it in her lips and waited for him to light it. The sad _snick_ of the plastic lighter was ineffective against the wind and blowing snow and the paper refused to catch. She huffed with impatience and finally reached her hand up around the back of his neck and pulled his face down to hers.

It took him half a moment to figure out what she was doing but when she placed the end of her cigarette against his he caught on and inhaled until he could smell freshly burning paper. Releasing his neck, she took a slow, indulgent pull and tilted her head back before blowing the smoke in to the frigid air. “There are times that I really miss this; doing something I know I’m not supposed to be doing just because I want to,” At that moment a gust of wind swept across the roof against her back and she shivered. Whether it was chivalry or opportunism he didn’t know, but he shifted to stand behind her to block out the wind.

She continued on, “A lifetime ago, when you were just a boy, I spent a long winter in Leningrad trying to ferret out a double agent. I only got the assignment because none of the men wanted to be there in January. The only thing that made the bloody mission tolerable was being able to go outside and smoke in the snow even when it was so cold that your eyes would water and the tears would freeze to your face. Standing under the street lamps, it felt like stars were falling around me. The Russians thought I was insane but at the time it was the only choice that I had the freedom to make.”

He didn’t notice as it happened but he suddenly realized that he was pressed tight against her back. She didn’t notice it either, or didn’t care, because she was leaning back in to his chest. The smoke from their cigarettes and the steam from their breath clouded around them as they absorbed each other’s body heat. From his height advantage, he watched flakes briefly stick to the short, practical strands of her hair before quickly melting away. The simple unexpected intimacy of the moment was nearly more than he could bear and his chest got tight all over again.

With a sigh, she flicked what was left of her cigarette over the side of the building. She turned to face him and he took a small step backwards to allow her some space. “James, they’re bean counters. They don’t know the true cost of doing this job well. All they see are expense reports and the bank drafts to cover the damage. But if wrecking a dozen McLarens because you can is what it takes to keep you here and engaged, then it’s worth it to me.”

His cigarette joined hers over and the edge and he smiled down at her, his first real smile of the day. “Thank you, Ma’am.”

She tugged on his sleeve in the direction of the door. “Now come inside before you catch your death.”

The smile didn’t leave his face as he followed her in.


End file.
